(Editor’s Note: Welcome writer Christopher Webster to the Vehlinggo sphere. In his first article for the blog, the journalist and film critic takes a look at a new Makeup and Vanity Set score.)

Nashville, Tennessee’s Makeup and Vanity Set have been creating cybernetic synthwave for more than 10 years now. Always cinematic, their music has been the driving force behind a number of short films, including 88:88—which ultimately inspired an entire album—and Eidolon. Their latest is a score for Abner Pastoll’s recently released short film Getaway Driver, which marks the first collaboration between the director and MAVS. Today, Vehlinggo is proud to premiere that score.

A cacophonous brew of pounding percussion and layered synth, the bone-jangling two-minute-and-change score, is the perfect undercurrent to the film’s frenetic pace and 1970s, Mod Squad style.

How It All Came Together

After meeting online, the composer and film’s director bonded over a love of old synth scores and classic movies, hoping to work together on something one day. So, when Pastoll was presented the opportunity to make The Getaway Driver, MAVS was the first on his list to offer the opportunity to score it.

“I was a fan of Abner’s film, Road Games, so I was eager to do something with him,” MAVS told Vehlinggo. “The idea of scoring a car chase was sort of terrifying and unknown to me. The film had the feel of something from the 1970s, so the interpretation started there.”

“I wanted it to have a heavy, percussive angle,” MAVS continued. “I started the score while I was in Arizona — in the desert. I layered a lot of percussion over some subtle modular stuff. I didn’t have loads of runtime to work with, so the score had to propel itself quickly and then get out of the way.”

“I did use synths, including my Moog Mother 32, Moog LP2, Prophet V, and Roland HS60,” MAVS said. “I used the Mother 32 to layer some white noise percussion as well. The whole thing revolved around momentum. That was the key.”

Inspired by classic films like The Driver and To Live and Die in L.A., Pastoll’s short film was shot over a 10-hour period at a multi-storey parking garage South West of London. The vintage cars featured are an Orange Ford Capri MKiii 3.0 (78-86) and a Blue Mercedes Benz 280sl.

Interesting to note: The film features the final performance from veteran screen dog, Mabel the Pug, who has appeared in many films and television shows, including The King’s Speech and, most recently, the Netflix original series, The Crown.

Getaway Driver can viewed in full here: